Numbing Jellyfish MTG Card


Numbing Jellyfish - Unstable
Mana cost
Converted mana cost4
RarityCommon
TypeHost Creature — Jellyfish
Abilities Mill
Released2017-12-08
Set symbol
Set nameUnstable
Set codeUST
Power 2
Toughness 3
Number42
Frame2015
LayoutHost
BorderSilver
Illustred byMatt Dixon
Un-set :-)This card is part of an Un-set

Key Takeaways

  1. Provides card advantage with potential for new draws each turn, enhancing hand quality.
  2. Enables resource disruption, offering a tactical edge by exiling opponent’s cards.
  3. Playable at instant speed, it allows for flexible responses and mana efficiency.

Text of card

When this creature enters the battlefield, roll a six-sided die. Target player puts the top X cards of his or her library into his or her graveyard, where X is the result.


Card Pros

Card Advantage: Numbing Jellyfish offers a fresh take on drawing cards, elegantly meshed with its creature abilities, potentially replenishing your hand with quality options each turn.

Resource Acceleration: This creature may not ramp up your mana in the traditional sense, but it gives you the tactical advantage of potentially exiling cards that could accelerate your opponent’s resources, keeping you one step ahead.

Instant Speed: Given that Numbing Jellyfish can be utilized at instant speed, it provides flexibility in gameplay, allowing you to adapt to the unfolding match and maximizing your mana efficiency every turn.


Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Numbing Jellyfish challenges players as you are required to discard a card to execute its effect. This can put you at a disadvantage, especially when your hand is already running low on cards and each one is crucial for your strategy.

Specific Mana Cost: The Numbing Jellyfish card has a particular need for blue mana. This restricts the card’s inclusion to predominantly blue or blue-inclusive decks, reducing its overall flexibility in various deck types.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: With a higher mana investment necessary to deploy Numbing Jellyfish, it competes for a slot in your deck with other cards that could present more immediate or substantial impact on the game given a similar, or even lower, mana cost.


Reasons to Include in Your Collection

Versatility: Numbing Jellyfish offers utility across various deck types, serving as both a deterrent and a control tool. Its presence on the board can hinder aggressive strategies and provide useful battlefield management.

Combo Potential: With its unique tap ability, Numbing Jellyfish can be instrumental in decks designed around tapping and untapping creatures, potentially unlocking multiple combos and interactions in a single turn.

Meta-Relevance: As metagames shift, cards like Numbing Jellyfish gain importance for their role in stalling opponent strategies, making them a timely addition to decks that need to keep pace with evolving competitive environments.


How to Beat Numbing Jellyfish

Numbing Jellyfish is a creature card that can be a slippery obstacle in Magic: The Gathering. Its ability to tap and potentially incapacitate an opponent’s creature upon dealing combat damage makes it a tricky adversary on the battlefield. Handling this aquatic threat requires strategic plays and an understanding of timing, as well as card synergies.

To overcome the stinging grasp of Numbing Jellyfish, players should consider using removal spells that can target creatures regardless of their tapped or untapped status. Instant-speed removal such as Murder or Path to Exile ensures that the Jellyfish can be dispatched before it has the chance to cause any disruption. Moreover, players can employ counter spells to prevent the Jellyfish from hitting the board at all. Cards like Negate or Essence Scatter are effective safety nets, especially during the early phases of the game when the opponent is likely to cast their lynchpin creatures. Lastly, using low-cost creatures with abilities like First Strike or those that grant immunity to being tapped can edge out the paralytic potential of Numbing Jellyfish, leaving you in control of the sea of battle.

In summary, while Numbing Jellyfish presents a unique control challenge, adeptly navigating the card’s influence with the right responses ensures that your deck’s strategy isn’t hampered by its numbing stings, maintaining the flow and tempo in your favor.


Cards like Numbing Jellyfish

Numbing Jellyfish joins the menagerie of intriguing blue creatures with an ability to control the battlefield in Magic: The Gathering. Its closest relatives in strategy include cards like Frost Lynx, which shares the talent for tapping opponent’s creatures upon entry to the battlefield. While Frost Lynx boasts an immediate effect, it lacks the reusable aspect that Numbing Jellyfish offers through its encore ability.

Ice-Fang Coatl also offers a comparison, providing a deathtouch mechanic alongside its ability to draw a card, posing an ongoing threat to larger creatures. Unlike Ice-Fang Coatl, however, Numbing Jellyfish demands careful planning to maximize the encore, a different sort of strategic depth. Wall of Lost Thoughts presents another comparable creature, creating mill strategies to disrupt an opponent’s deck rather than their battle line. But again, the encore found on Numbing Jellyfish sets a precedent for repeated influence across multiple turns.

Evaluating the unique traits of each card, Numbing Jellyfish carves out its place within Magic: The Gathering. Its potential for repeated tempo swings provides players with consistent ways to outmaneuver opponents, showcasing its value in decks focused on control and delay tactics.

Frost Lynx - MTG Card versions
Ice-Fang Coatl - MTG Card versions
Wall of Lost Thoughts - MTG Card versions
Frost Lynx - MTG Card versions
Ice-Fang Coatl - MTG Card versions
Wall of Lost Thoughts - MTG Card versions

Cards similar to Numbing Jellyfish by color, type and mana cost

Phantasmal Forces - MTG Card versions
Phantom Monster - MTG Card versions
Wall of Vapor - MTG Card versions
Screeching Drake - MTG Card versions
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Sakashima of a Thousand Faces - MTG Card versions
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Archmage Emeritus - MTG Card versions
Hisoka, Minamo Sensei - MTG Card versions
Johnny, Combo Player - MTG Card versions
Dream Prowler - MTG Card versions
Clone - MTG Card versions
Cytoplast Manipulator - MTG Card versions
Crookclaw Transmuter - MTG Card versions
Dreamborn Muse - MTG Card versions
Phantasmal Forces - MTG Card versions
Phantom Monster - MTG Card versions
Wall of Vapor - MTG Card versions
Screeching Drake - MTG Card versions
Tradewind Rider - MTG Card versions
Archivist - MTG Card versions
Extravagant Spirit - MTG Card versions
Thieving Magpie - MTG Card versions
Inga Rune-Eyes - MTG Card versions
Sakashima of a Thousand Faces - MTG Card versions
Laboratory Drudge - MTG Card versions
Undercover Operative - MTG Card versions
Archmage Emeritus - MTG Card versions
Hisoka, Minamo Sensei - MTG Card versions
Johnny, Combo Player - MTG Card versions
Dream Prowler - MTG Card versions
Clone - MTG Card versions
Cytoplast Manipulator - MTG Card versions
Crookclaw Transmuter - MTG Card versions
Dreamborn Muse - MTG Card versions

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Numbing Jellyfish MTG card by a specific set like Unstable, there are several reliable options to consider. One of the primary sources is your local game store, where you can often find booster packs, individual cards, and preconstructed decks from current and some past sets. They often offer the added benefit of a community where you can trade with other players.

For a broader inventory, particularly of older sets, online marketplaces like TCGPlayer, Card Kingdom and Card Market offer extensive selections and allow you to search for cards from specific sets. Larger e-commerce platforms like eBay and Amazon also have listings from various sellers, which can be a good place to look for sealed product and rare finds.

Additionally, Magic’s official site often has a store locator and retailer lists for finding Wizards of the Coast licensed products. Remember to check for authenticity and the condition of the cards when purchasing, especially from individual sellers on larger marketplaces.

Below is a list of some store websites where you can buy the Numbing Jellyfish and other MTG cards:

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Rules and information

The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Numbing Jellyfish card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.

Date Text
2018-01-19 Host creatures each have an ability that triggers when it enters the battlefield. It functions like any other creature.